Where or where has my pasta e fagioli recipe gone? I’ve looked on this website, in my boxes of stray recipes, and even asked my friend who I gave the recipe to years ago, with no luck. It is simple enough to make, it is just that the recipe I used for years has disappeared. It must have left with the odd sock from the laundry and missing favorite t-shirt (items never to be found again).
I gave up looking, went into the kitchen, and started chopping vegetables. I always feel calmer with a large chef’s knife in my hand when I’m having a frustrating experience. Although I don’t know how the people around me feel when they see me like this. (A crazed Italian with a large knife in her hand could be intimidating to some. Just saying.) I just started adding ingredients to the pot, wrote everything down for the NEXT time, and then left the kitchen.
As I was entering the ingredients I used today into this blog, I thought I’d take one more look at the website for the original recipe. I was curious if I had made it the same. I was positive I had added that recipe years ago. And I had!! Found it right away this time. How did that happen? Did I spell the recipe wrong? Did I check the title in English or Italian? I will never know. Luckily I found the original recipe before sending this blog so I can refer you (and ME) to it for the future. PASTA E FAGIOLI SOUP.
SO now I have another recipe for this soup, similar but definitely different.
Chopped vegetables in broth. Chopping the vegetables is what calmed me down. I know, that must seem counter-intuitive to most people but it works for me. Whenever I’m worked up about something, my friends will ask, “what are you going to cook today?” They know me well and some are the happy recipients of the results of my frustrations.
Okay I will explain this awful looking photo. These are Scarlet runner beans that hubby grows in the garden. When they are plucked from their pod, they are brilliantly pinkish-red. I precook them in beer before adding them to a recipe. They soak up the yeasty beer and develop a wonderful hearty flavor. As you can see, these are large meaty beans, not so pretty once they are cooked. Here’s an article about SCARLET RUNNER BEANS.
Soup simmering away marrying all the flavors together. This time around I used garlic, zucchini, and tomatoes from our garden. You can substitute store-bought veggies or canned varieties if you prefer.
This soup can be made vegetarian or add spicy or sweet Italian sausage for a meaty flavor. Sometimes I add a sausage link and leave it whole. When the soup is done, I remove the sausage and use it in another meal if I don’t want to cut it up and add it to the soup.
Great fill-you-up soup for any time of year. I particularly like to make it in the fall and winter and use my garden produce.
Take Two - Pasta e Fagioli Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 cup celery, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups Scarlet runner beans (or 15oz can of your favorite bean)
- 16 ounces fresh tomatoes, chopped small
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken broth (use vegetable broth if keeping soup vegetarian)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1 sprig each of oregano and thyme
- 3/4 cup ditalini pasta (or other small pasta)
- Several leaves of basil for garnish or add to the soup
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese, grated (for garnish)
- Optional:
- 1 cup zucchini, chopped small
- 1 link sweet or spicy Italian sausage
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large deep pot or dutch oven. If adding Italian sausage, cook until no longer pink. Add onion, carrots, celery, and zucchini (if using) at this time and cook until softened.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about another minute). Season with salt and pepper.
- Combine beans, tomatoes, chicken (or vegetable) broth, and oregano & thyme into the pot. Bring to a boil.
- Stir pasta (ditalini) into the pot and cook for about 4-5 minutes (or less). Be careful not to overcook the pasta - it will continue to cook in the hot soup liquid.
- Serve and garnish with Parmesan and basil.